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| Sicily
"...an indescribably beautiful country..."
Sicily's history
spans some 6000 years. While
Rome was still a small village of poor shepherds Sicily boasted a magnificent civilization with towns
which could challenge in power and splendour the cities of the Greek
motherland.
Since prehistoric times different peoples
landed in Sicily attracted by its beauty, fertility and luxuriant
vegetation. The island has seen many different cultures flourish on its
soil, which have left behind a trail of impressive monuments, buildings
and works of art which still today inspire wonder and admiration. The Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines,
Arabs, Normans, Swabians, French and Spaniards have all left in their
wake their mark on its appearance. Many of these peoples felt at home
in Sicily, the land Homer described as "
the wonderful island of Helios" the God of the Sun, the dream
land of the ancients where "everything grew without being sown".
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It was a supremely desirable
land, an exceptional crossroads of
history where different races and civilisations merged.
All this is recognisable even today in the physical appearance of
Sicily's inhabitants as well as in its customs, in the names of its
towns and in the same language of the Sicilians.
In Siracusa, Agrigento, Selinunte,
Imera, the Greeks raised
their temples in Doric style.
The Normans erected the majestic cathedrals of Cefalu, Monreale, Palermo. Arabic and byzantine decoration confer their
supreme perfection on churches
and cloisters.
The Swabians built up in a
perfect geometric style their imposing castels
and towers.
To the Spaniards is due the baroque of churches and noble palaces which still today is
source of astonishment in Palermo and
in south-east regions of Sicily.
Whoever comes to Sicily today can discover and enjoy millennia of civilisation, culture, and history, a story too long to tell in
words here and now, which is why we prefer instead to show you some
images of Sicily, leaving the comment to famous travellers who have visited
our island, admired its natural
and artistic beauties,
experienced the warmth and hospitality of its inhabitants and who,
simply, have ...fallen in love with
it.
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”A continuous breeze rises from the
perfumed gardens, a breeze that inebriates the mind and unsettles the
senses. That aroma, suddenly enveloping you, mixing the delicate
sensation of perfumes with the artistic joy of the mind, immerses you
for a few seconds in a well-being of body and soul that comes close to
true happiness.„
(Guy De Maupassant)
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”What you really long for is to stay:
everywhere you can enjoy the wonders of nature and art„
(August von Platen)
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” It is perfect here! „
(Virginia Woolf)
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” How sweet to stay here in Sicily! „
(D.H. Lawrence)
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The loveliest region of Italy: a stunning orgy of colours, scents, and lights ..a great delight!
(S. Freud)
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” I was enchanted... the limpidity of the
sky, the relentless splendour of the sun, the beauty of the
countryside, a certain excitement of the fantasy ... which brought to
mind the time when in the fields one encountered the divine „
(Jean Houël)
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” I was enchanted... the limpidity of the
sky, the relentless splendour of the sun, the beauty of the
countryside, a certain excitement of the fantasy ... which brought to
mind the time when in the fields one encountered the divine „
( J.W.Goethe)
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” I was enchanted... the limpidity of the
sky, the relentless splendour of the sun, the beauty of the
countryside, a certain excitement of the fantasy ... which brought to
mind the time when in the fields one encountered the divine „
(Oscar Wilde)
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We look forward to welcoming you in Cefalu
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